Artist Statement:

The metaphysical body and physical body are at odds. To accept and cooperate with both, is to have an acceptance and knowing of our inner and outer world, as well as the bodies we inhabit. Katie Swan’s work is an exploration of the harmony which can be found the tension of corporeal conception. Her mode of communicating through clay illustrates the visceral links to the self within the mind and body.

Katiecan be found at her studio space in the Lake Merritt District in Oakland, California. She grew up in Southern California and fell in love with ceramic art in high school. After studying Sociology and Political Science at UCLA and competing on the track team she traveled to Denmark to work as an artist assistant. As a mostly self-taught artist she finds her inspiration from movement. When observing any movement, from the grass blowing in the wind, to the fluidity of a belly dancers body, curves, rifts, valleys, landscapes all tell a story of where that thing has been and the enjoyment in the imagery. Katie is currently pursuing her MFA in Studio Art at MILLS College in Oakland, California.

"'The more I make art, the greater I understand my physical self' describes how her sculptural forms are a way of processing the world around her, her own body, the natural and manmade world. Her forms are alive with this process of interpreting, digesting and discovering. They touch her own beating heart and conjoin that energy with the pulse of the life around her. That current is evident in both the dynamic visual rhythmic quality of her work and her desire that her work act as a point of contact. Clay is both a medium for self-expression and for relating to the world she lives in.

What she brings to that calling is devotion, consistency, motivation and an instinctual need for her work to be both a mode of communication within herself; a dialog of her body, mind and spirit, and as a bridge to the people around her, to her larger community and world. Many of the projects she is drawn to use art as a medium of association and collaboration"

-Erin McGuiness, Artist

What medium do you work in and why?

You can take raw earth add fire and form something that can have an impact on a human life, it's our history, it's creation. Not saying that that all potters are God or anything... Clay is something that I learn from every time I work with it, not just about the creative process, but about myself. It is a material that you can push to do amazing things yet are confined and I enjoy playing with the dance between the two.

Another reason is that when you get an opportunity to teach ceramics people react in a unique way with clay. To watch a student who may be struggling in other subjects, or an adult who has difficulty expressing an emotion, take a lump of clay and mold it into something they can hold and use can give a refreshing sense of worth.

What inspires your artwork?

Motion. When I observe any movement, from the grass blowing in the wind, to the fluidity of a belly dancers body. Curves, rifts, valleys, landscapes all tell a story of where that thing has been and I enjoy imaging that story. The connection between how the human body moves and nature is fascinating to be. I believe that is why I love traveling and dancing to much that it becomes a form of meditation for me. Often I am dancing around the studio listening towww.fatberris.com, an epic DJ from Copenhagen. Working with clay is a dynamic experience and in the forms that I made I always need to be moving around them and observing the movement this the sculpture.

What is your artwork about?

My work is about that exploration in shapes and textures found in nature and the human body. Why do we find specific forms enticing, as if we may have seen them before.

How do you want the viewer to respond to your work?

I wish to the viewer to contemplate why a specific piece catches their attention and give it time. In our society we are inundated with images and stimulation and we always wanting to understand instantly, but their can be a peace with slowing the mind down. I hope that my ceramic work is able to help do that.